Beyond Light and Dark
by Penelope Copplestone
Summary: A year after the Battle of Crait, Rey finds herself at the heart of a war, faced with new and overwhelming responsibilities. Meanwhile, tension rises within the First Order as Kylo Ren's leadership is questioned and his past begins to haunt him. An Episode IX fic.


Kylo Ren jolted up from his sleep. He wiped off a bead of sweat that had trickled down his forehead and looked around. The stark difference between where he'd been and where he was now made him dizzy. Gone were the familiar blue and white walls of home, the smell of baking bread, and the clutter of spare parts on a dark blue rug. Instead, he found himself surrounded by gunmetal grey walls, dim white overhead lights, and an inactive med-droid.

He realized his heart was pounding a thousand beats per minute.

This wasn't the first time he's dreamed of her.

But each time she appeared, the nightmares grew worse, the scenes more vivid in his mind, the sensation more visceral. He could still see it: a slimy grey tentacle protruding from her chest. She looked at him, her eyes pleading, desperate for help, but he could only stand and watch. He could only watch, frozen, as a grotesque creature climb out of his mother's chest and devour her. Then he was consumed by dread and an insurmountable heaviness.

 _I wonder…_

He tried to reach out and was relieved to have felt something. It was barely perceptible – a spark amidst a multitude of throbbing lights – but it was enough to convince him that Leia was still alive. Distant, perhaps, but still alive.

The pressure to eliminate both his parents dissipated along with Snoke. Kylo Ren mulled it over, often painstakingly so, and was resolved, in the end, to convince Leia to side with him. He'd make her see the incredible future the First Order could bring to this deplorable excuse of a governed galaxy. She will understand. She had always listened to him then. Maybe she'll listen again now.

"Sir," the com-link on his side table buzzed into life, its blue lights blinking frenetically.

He gave it a glance and took a second to compose himself before pressing the speech button. "Go on."

"We've arrived at Gatalenta."

* * *

It was still early in the morning when Rey, Poe, and Bb8 reached the mountain village of Chiyen-Ma. It was small and drab, Rey noted, as she looked from one bone-colored building to another, their roofs made out of grey, clay tiles that looked as if they were ready to fall off any moment now. The creeping fog that obfuscated the lower half of the village and the surrounding foliage of unsaturated green added to the pressing dreariness. Even Niima Outpost looked livelier than this.

Then again, Gatalentans were not known for their vibrancy or garishness. Rather, Rey observed, from the moment they landed on the capital city to the second they reached the remote mountain range, this world's citizens appeared to be repulsed by color and refrained from wearing too much of it. Not that any of this was important to Rey. Her main purpose here, after all, wasn't to indulge in sightseeing. She sought the fabled Monastery of Zang Biu Hai, a name briefly mentioned in one of the ancient scrolls she's managed to take from Ahch-To. Further research led her to rumors about a group of Gatalentan mountain monks with superior herbalist skills, to a near-dying man who claimed he was revived to life, and finally, to the entrance gates of this very village.

Travelling the lengths of the galaxy to recruit Force Sensitives wasn't anything new to her. For the past year or so, she's reached a myriad of worlds – from the stables of Canto Bight to the elevated city in Bespin – and somehow returned to the Resistance Headquarters with someone new in tow: a child, a teenager, some excited, some reluctant, but almost all with questions: who are they and what are they capable of?

She didn't handle all of them by herself, however. A man by the name of Kun, whose skin was as tough as rocks, trained the recruits in the art of combat. Kun was an old friend of Leia's from the days of the rebellion, and one of the very few who responded to their distress call on Crait. Like the General, he was sensitive to the Force, but not as adept in using it as Luke or Rey was.

Now, Rey hoped to bring in more recruits. She surmised that a team of skilled Force healers would be unquestionably advantageous to the Resistance.

Rey insisted on going alone this time, but in the end, she found herself in the company of the Resistance's present Officer in Charge and his loyal astromech droid. Poe reasoned that he'd do the talking to convince at least one of the monks to come with them, but Rey doubted that this was his sole agenda.

"Rey, please, hear me out," Poe began, seemingly oblivious to the empty streets of Chiyen-Ma. "I can teach your trainees how to fly! If they're anything like you, flying would come ridiculously easy to them. Imagine, an entire fleet of Jedi pilots!"

"That's strange," Rey interrupted, completely ignoring the hurt look on Poe's face. By now, they were halfway down the village's main street. Rey pointed towards the rooftops, "They have chimneys, but I don't see any smoke. And the weather isn't particularly warm…"

"Maybe Gatalentans have a higher tolerance to cold?" Poe shrugged.

All of a sudden, they heard a whisper – sharp, high-pitched, and out of nowhere. "Hey!"

With their hands on their weapons, the two turned towards the source of the voice, only to find themselves facing a girl about Rey's height. She stood in the shadow of a doorway to one of the houses, her back flat against the wall. If she was threatened by their stance, it didn't show. She raised a hand and beckoned for them to get inside.

Rey and Poe glanced at each other for a second, nodded in agreement, and stepped into the doorway, with Bb8 following closely behind. Once they were inside, the girl shut the door, enveloping them in total darkness.

"You fools! What were you doing out there in the open?" the girl asked in hushed tones.

When Rey's sight finally adjusted to the dark, she saw that the girl was no older than herself (though she certainly talked like she was). A large dark braid hung down her back, her eyes were large and inquisitive. No longer intimidated, Rey replied with a question of her own, "What is happening here?"

Instead of answering, the girl led them to a large window covered by heavy wooden blinds. She opened a small slat, allowing them to see outside.

Rey felt them before she heard them, their footsteps striking heavily, with rhythmic precision and uniformity, against the hard dirt road. Then she saw them. Stormtroopers – hundreds of them. They marched down the main avenue, their pristine white armor contrasting sharply against the backdrop. Before she could ask what the First Order was doing in such a place as this, the answer appeared right before her very eyes.

The troopers carried with them prisoners - humanoid figures in loose robes that had once been white. Their faces were obscured by hoods and their arms were tied behind their backs. There were many of them, some tall and some little. _Children¸_ Rey realized with horror. She felt Poe tense beside her and she reached out an arm to steady him.

"Holy suns," the village girl's voice shook, "They've taken the monks!"

Something told Rey to run, to get out of there as fast as her legs can carry her, but something else made her want to stay. She understood the reason the moment the dark, imposing figure came into view. Her heart was beating so loud, it seemed to drown out the thunderous noise of the marching army. She wanted to move, but couldn't. She wanted to shout, but found herself mute.

She wasn't surprised when Kylo Ren stopped in his tracks and turned towards their direction.


End file.
